Support Wild Maned Wolf Conservation!

Support Wild Maned
Wolf Conservation!

Welcome!

The Natural Science Center & Animal Discovery of Greensboro is home to two adult maned wolves, Lana and Nazca. Maned wolves are an endangered member of the canine family and are from South America. They resemble large foxes and are very beautiful animals. In 2008, the Natural Science Center, with support from the Brooks Family and Duke Energy, built a state-of-the-art exhibit and holding area in the hopes that we would be approved to receive a breeding pair of maned wolves in the future.

The AZA Maned Wolf Species Survival Plan (SSP®) was impressed with our exhibit and decided to send us two sister wolves to start so that the staff could gain experience with the species before participating in the breeding program. Luna and Nena arrived from Little Rock, AR and the Jean and Taylor Brooks Family Maned Wolf Conservation Center and Duke Energy Solar Solutions Center opened in April 11th, 2008. The sisters' genes are currently more represented in the captive population than other maned wolves' so the SSP® then decided to swap them with a young breeding pair. In fall 2009, Lana arrived from White Oak Conservation Center in Yulee, FL. and Nazca arrived from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute at Front Royal, VA.

This blog will follow the story of the 2010/2011 Reproductive Season for Lana & Nazca. It will also provide information on the conservation program and about maned wolves as a species. Use the Archive at the right of this page to see each post. We hope you enjoy as we share this wonderful story!

We want to thank the Maned Wolf SSP® Species Coordinator, Melissa Rodden, at SCBI and all the MWSSP® advisers for providing us with most of the maned wolf information found in this blog.

The Jean and Taylor Brooks Family Maned Wolf Conservation Center "was given in loving memory of Drs. Jean and Taylor Brooks, by Jim Brooks, to honor their lives and lifelong appreciation for and commitment to the natural world; and also in memory of his godmother Katherine Pierce, co-founder of the Natural Science Center, 1957. This habitat was created with the hope that it will serve to inspire and motivate each of us to be conscious stewards of our planet, its resources and all its creatures."

About the author: Kim Clark has been an animal keeper and educator at the Natural Science Center of Greensboro since the opening of Animal Discovery in 2007. She hopes that the Natural Science Center's maned wolf breeding program, as well as this blog, will make a significant difference in maned wolf conservation efforts worldwide. Most of the photos in this blog were taken by zookeepers Kim Clark and Amber Walker.

February 19th, 2011

For yesterday's socialization session, we walked around the den box a couple of times and then touched the outside of the den box with our clean, bare hands. When Lana and Nazca were let back inside, Lana sniffed the den box where we had touched, but she didn't seem concerned about it.
Today, we walked around the den box a couple of times and then touched inside the front entrance to the den, including the straw. We also opened the access door at the back of the den, but didn't touch anything. This was the pups' first exposure to more light than they've experienced in the den. This is also the first time that we've seen the pups in person and not just on the surveillance monitor. When Lana came back inside, she again sniffed the areas where we had touched, but didn't seem concerned about it.
Normally, maned wolf mothers move their pups to a new den sometime between 2 and 7 days after giving birth. The pups are now 13 days old and she hasn't moved them yet. This may be a sign of how comfortable she is with everything; we feel that the pups are safer indoors at this age too. 



Posted by

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)